Nico Estevez wants his Austin FC side to “just go game by game” as they look to turn their season around ahead of their home clash against St. Louis City on Sunday.

Austin picked up three vital points in their last outing, confidently defeating the Houston Dynamo 2-0 in a Texas derby at Q2 Stadium, with Jayden Nelson and Myrto Uzuni finding the net in the first half.

That win helped Los Verdes pull further away from the foot of the table as they are now 13th in the Western Conference, with 10 points from 10 matches.

It also marked their second victory of the season, with both coming at home, as Estevez’s side snapped a dire seven-match winless run to finally turn the tide.

“Well, I think for us, the important thing is to take one game at a time,” Estevez said. “And the games at home are really important, as we know.

“I think we’ve played good games away. But we haven’t won yet, but I think we’ve had some good performances there, and we just missed that little bit extra to get the win.

“I think it’s important that we just go game by game as the points are coming up for us. And then we’ll see where we are at the end of this stretch before the [World Cup] break.

“I give a lot of credit to the players [for the win over Houston]. It’s been a really tough time for everyone here. Staff, players, everyone.

“And I think the players show what they are trying to show every single game. But we have not had that complete performance until now. And I give a lot of credit to the players, I think they really wanted to bring this to the fans.”

St. Louis City sit just one spot below Austin in the West, in 14th place with six points from their nine matches so far.

It has not been the brightest start from Yohan Damet’s side, who have managed just one win this season, along with three draws and five losses – the last of which was a 3-2 defeat to San Jose Earthquakes, extending their winless streak to four matches.

Another step closer. pic.twitter.com/ztB2gROaAu

— Austin FC (@AustinFC) May 1, 2026

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Austin FC – Brad Stuver

With his five saves against the Dynamo, Stuver became the fifth active goalkeeper to reach 700 career saves in MLS regular-season play.

Stuver (704) joined Sean Johnson (1333), Stefan Frei (1239), Joe Willis (906) and Andre Blake (822) as the only other active goalkeepers to have achieved the feat, and his contributions may once again prove vital for Austin.

St. Louis City – Marcel Hartel

In St. Louis’ 3-2 loss to San Jose last weekend, Hartel recorded multiple goal contributions in an MLS match for the seventh time in his St. Louis career.

In doing so, he set a club record for most such performances in franchise history, breaking a tie with Joao Klauss and Eduard Lowen.

MATCH PREDICTION – AUSTIN FC WIN

Home advantage is set to play a major part in this clash, with Austin pegged as favourites ahead of kick-off.

Los Verdes earned their second win of the season against the Dynamo last weekend, marking Austin’s first multi-goal shutout win at home in almost two years (since a 2-0 win over LA Galaxy in April 2024).

Interestingly, though, they have just one win (D1 L4) in six meetings against St. Louis and are winless at home against them (D1 L2).

Among the 15 teams Austin have played multiple home matches against in MLS play, St. Louis are the only team they have not defeated at Q2 Stadium.

St. Louis, meanwhile, are winless in their last five road MLS matches this season (D2 L3), conceding the first goal in each of those matches. Philadelphia Union are the only other club in the MLS to concede in their first five away matches in 2026.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Austin FC – 45.7%

Draw – 26.8%

St. Louis City – 27.5%